Crossword Genius

Making clothing line is irritating (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nettling

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'irritating' is the definition.
('nettle' can be a synonym of 'irritate')

'making clothing line' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'line' could be 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'making' could be 'netting' (I've seen this before) and 'netting' is found within the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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